Phantasy Star Online A Mage's Story
by MTP
Summary: This story uses my characters from Phantasy Star Online and builds a story around one of them, Lavender. For reference the names are the only similarity you will find to my other stories.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was early morning as a small child rolled over in bed. A light buzzing noise was filling the air disturbing the quiet peacefulness that had previously filled the room. Her eyes fluttered slightly and then clenched hard, her mouth forming into a snarl as she finally opened her eyes and sat up. Moments later a pillow hurtled across the room and struck the offending alarm clock, knocking it to the floor with a crash. The buzzing stopped abruptly and the girl stuck her tongue out.

"Stupid buzzy alarm clock!" she complained lying back down in bed.

Just then there was a tapping on the door and a voice called to her.

"Lavender, hey girl are you up?"

"Uuuuuuuuuh!" complained the girl sitting up once more, "Yeah I'm up…"

"Good, get dressed and come on out ok."

"Fine…"

Lavender kicked back the covers and lay still for a moment. At the time she wore a pair of pyjamas which were of made of a soft pink material, most likely cotton. On the top was a printed picture of a rabbit, which was coloured in a light blue colour. In truth Lavender hated them but she didn't complain, it was better than not having any at all. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and looked around the room.

It was simple in design and rather small to boot. Her bed lay against one wall, a small porthole in the wall above it giving a nice view of the stars outside. If she stood on her tiptoes and looked out, Lavender could just see the curved blue form of the planet Ragol below them. The room also housed a small desk to one side and next to it a set of draws for her clothes and personal things. The draws were never full though, Lavender didn't have enough of her own stuff to barely fill two of the four draws in the unit.

On the desk was a small lamp and a pile of loose paper that was her school work. As much as she hated school she found something's very interesting such as cooking and gym. When it came to science and maths though, Lavender was completely lost. Her brain just wouldn't accept all the facts and formulas her teachers spouted and her test results weren't that great. Most of the time it was her friends whispering her the answers that got her through them. She knew they were taking a huge risk doing this but she was always sure to show how grateful she was, normally by baking them all a cake, something she was very good at.

Next to the pile of papers was a small set of cards. They were semi circular in design and red in colour, with a printed pattern on the front that looked like an eye. She had been told they were called Mahu but she just called them "her cardies". Her eyes finally tracked to the chair in front of the table, upon which sat her clothes, stacked neatly in a pile she had made the night before. Her clothes she loved and was one of the few things she treasured more than her foster parent.

Lavender quickly jumped out of bed, her earlier sleepiness forgotten for the moment, and crossed to the chair. She quickly slipped out of her pyjamas and into her underwear before pulling the main section of her clothes over her head. This main section was in fact a dress, purple and white being the main colours. The shoulders were white, the chest purple and the drape over the legs white with purple on either side. The arms were a mix of purple and white sections and the cuffs purposefully made overly large so they stuck out. There was also a small section that wrapped around her waist like a miniature shawl that was grey with purple trim. As was plainly obvious, Lavender liked the colour purple, if it had been left up to her everything would be purple in colour.

Once Lavender had slipped into her clothing she crossed the room and hit the light switch, finally illuminating the small room. In the new light it was clear to see what Lavender actually looked like. Her child like face was full of innocence made only clearer by her brilliant green eyes that could melt anyone's heart within a split second. Her hair was cut short, reaching only to her shoulders at best and was gelled up slightly at the back forming a small fan behind her. Its colour was a brilliant white with the occasional grey line through it, which at first everyone though was very odd. For a child of eight her hair colour would have made her look like an old woman if she had been taller and more serious in nature.

Lavender sat herself down at the desk and fished in one of the draws next to her before she finally pulled out a mirror and comb. She spent a minute making sure her slumber hadn't wrecked her hair and then put the items away. She finally turned to her side and lifted a small hat from a rack, which she placed on her head. The hat looked slightly like a jester's hat, the top separating into two small spikes from which hung two small tassels. The hat also had two strips of material that fell down over her ears, which she could tie under her chin to keep the hat on if needed.

Finally happy about the way she looked, Lavender bounded over to the door and opened it, passing into the room beyond. The room in question was the main room of the apartment her and her foster parent rented. It was a bright room, the ceiling being covered in spotlights and numerous other lights being scattered all over. The centre of the room housed a large fixed curved sofa and a small coffee table. Next to this sat a number of plants in pots and beyond, at the back of the room, was a small kitchen section and breakfast bar. The left side wall was in fact a large window that looked out over the residential zone here on Pioneer 2. The view looked down a gap between several tall blocks, ending in the dome that covered the entire "city" isolating it from space. Artificial lights were scattered all over outside, bringing light to the otherwise dark sky that continually filled their vision.

Lavender made her way across the room, heading over towards the breakfast bar at the back of the room. It was here that another person was working in the kitchen. He was an old man, or rather an old newman, a genetically altered human with enhanced abilities. Like all Newman's his ears stuck out sideways but otherwise he looked perfectly human. His expression was calm and focussed, his tone equally calm and focussed as he addressed the arriving girl.

"Morning Lavender, have a seat." he said as he carried on his task of making breakfast.

Lavender promptly sat down at the bar, pouring herself a glass of orange from a pitcher on the top. She silently watched the Newman work, taking note of his normal attire as he worked. He wore a dark blue jacket over a black shirt and tight black trousers although Lavender thought they looked more like tights than trousers. His blue hair was gelled straight up into a series of large spikes and held in place by a large headband that passed round his head above his ears. On his feet were a set of shoes that made Lavender giggle every time she saw them, she was convinced he had bought them in a ladies shoe shop due to the huge sole on them. The Newman also wore a small set of gold coloured shoulder pads, which had his hunter's ID badge set into it.

Lavender was also convinced that he had picked up the wrong ID from the colour of it, bright pink! Presently the Newman turned round and slipped a series of three pancakes onto a waiting plate and passed them to Lavender.

"Here you go." he said before turning round again.

"Thanks unky Links." replied Lavender before proceeding to smother the pancakes in syrup.

Links was Lavender's foster father, her original parents having died several years ago. Links had been a friend of the family and had decided to take in Lavender and care for her until she was ready to go out into the world herself. That had happened seven years ago, just before Pioneer 2 had left Coral, their home world, on it's way to this place, Ragol. Her parents had been involved in the construction of Pioneer 1 and had also been partially involved in the construction of Pioneer 2 and that is where they both lost their lives. An accident during the huge ships construction left both of them sucking on vacuum as a pressure hatch blew in the section they had been working on. In total seventeen people died in the accident which was the darkest moment of the Pioneer migration besides the recent events on Ragol.

By all rights, Pioneer 2 should have landed on Ragol over two months ago and yet they were still in orbit due to an unexplained explosion on the surface below. It had happened whilst communications were being established and at the moment it was being said that a problem had occurred in the power generators, causing a large explosions. That said numerous teams of hunters had descended to the world below over the previous two months and no signs of a physical explosion had been found. The Central Dome, the focal point of the evacuation, had not suffered any damage at all and neither had any of the surrounding structures or vegetation. It was almost as if the place was a ghost town, no one from Pioneer 1 had been found, and it made a few people uneasy. There was definitely some kind of problem on the surface, a few weeks ago access to the Central Dome had finally been gained by a small group of hunters but instead of finding living quarters and command centres they had found a huge dragon. The creature had been dealt with, the Central Dome now marked as clean on all reports, but it only served to increase tension onboard Pioneer 2.

Speaking of Pioneer 2, Lavender had grown up on this huge vessel. She had only been one year old when her parents had died and now at the end of Pioneer 2's seven year voyage she was nearing eight and a half. She was typical to her age too, overly noisy and excitable as one of her teachers had described her. Links knew Lavender didn't really enjoy school but in his mind it was a second priority to what he was teaching her, the routine of becoming a FO or magic user. Lavender's parents had both come from successive lines of hunters but had decided not to pursuit that line of work themselves, instead going for construction workers. Links however could see the potential in Lavender and had taken her too a testing centre as soon as she was old enough. This had been about a year ago, just after Lavender's seventh birthday, and the tests had gone to prove that she was indeed worthy of a hunter position and more exactly the position of a FO as Links had suspected. Links was a FO himself, a FOnewm to be exact, and had picked up on the magic abilities of Lavender much earlier than the tests had. Even so he had needed the tests confirmation in order to fill in Lavender's application. Lavender wouldn't be able to become a fully fledged hunter until she hit maturity at 16 but Links felt that until then she should start learning the ropes so that she doesn't get hurt when she takes on her first quest.

Lavender was a FOmarl, a human force as opposed to Links who was a Newman force, but he was still able to help her out in small ways. For a start he had given her a few low level technique disks. These disks contained a series of magical energies that when used enabled the user to use a spell simply by chanting a small series of words. Lavender's magical powers were only just starting to appear but even so she was able to use a few of the spells links had given her, namely Resta, a healing spell, and Foie, a simple fireball spell.

"Now Lavender," spoke Links, "you remember you have school today and I want you to do your best as always."

"Yes unky Links, I'll try."

"That's a good girl, you have everything ready?"

"Yeah, just need to pick the stuff up from my room."

"Good, now you've been doing well at school these last few days so I think this afternoon I'm going to book an appointment with Ragol for us."

Lavender looked up sharply, her face literally glowing with excitement.

"Really? Ragol! We're going down there again?" she squeaked.

"Yes we are, I want to give you a few more lessons." replied Links.

"Yeah yeah yeah!"

Lavender was always excited about going to Ragol. She had been down only a few times before, probably around five times since Pioneer 2 had entered orbit. Links had been involved in the Central Dome dragon incident and was a skilled hunter even for his age. To this end the Hunter Guild had granted him permission to take Lavender down to Ragol with him on occasions so long as they stuck to the forest area surrounding the Central Dome.

Links had also been down to Ragol a few times on his own or with a group of hunters, the latest development being the exploration of a cave network that had just been discovered near the Dome. A huge crustacean like worm had been found deep inside the caves a few days ago, although this time Links hadn't been there when it had been discovered. The worm had caused the encountering hunters some problems and two of the group had come back with pretty severe wounds although they were all going to make it. Links had commented on it by saying they should have had a FO in the party, probably referring to himself although Lavender had been unable to determine if it had been out of jealousy or not.

Presently Links looked up at the clock on the wall and gave a small nod to himself. He casually laid out a plate of pancakes for himself as he turned his head to look at Lavender.

"Well if you're finished there I suggest you get a move on or you'll miss the transport and have to walk." he instructed.

Lavender's expression quickly became serious, having to walk to school was not a fun job, Pioneer 2 being as large as it was and full of twists and turns and ups and downs. She quickly scarfed down the remaining traces of her pancakes and gave her plate a few quick licks to remove any left over syrup before darting back to her room. As she opened the door a small white floating object that looked remarkably like a fox rose from her bed and shot over to her, doing a quick circle around her head before settling next to her left ear. Lavender giggled slightly and brought a hand up to pet the floating critter, its large puffy tail wagging happily.

"Hello Sato!" smiled Lavender bringing round her other hand and giving the object a hug.

The object was Sato, her mag that Links had helped her raise from a baby. Lavender hadn't really known what she was doing as she'd raised it. To her all the green boxes she gave it looked exactly the same as the next one but she couldn't have wished for a better mag. Sato was a bright white in colour, nearly the same as her hair colour and had small pink coloured ears with black tips. Its eyes were a bright green like Lavender's and it had a small pink mark on its head between its ears. Lavender gave the mag another hug and then let go, allowing the mag to float out in front of her.

"I'm sorry Sato, you'll have to stay home again today." she said sadly.

The mag bobbed up and down slightly, moving closer and nudging against her shoulder. Lavender again brought her hand up to pet the floating critter.

"I know Sato, you want to come with me, but you can't today. I'm going to school and they don't allow mags there….not even cute ones like you."

Sato gave another bob and then turned away slightly, making it obvious that it wasn't happy with the situation. Lavender quickly smiled and took the mag into another hug.

"Don't worry Sato, Links just told me that after school we are going down to Ragol again so we can go out together then ok."

The mag seemed to perk, quickly nuzzling into Lavender's embracing arms and then pulling free and zooming round the room once before stopping again. Lavender gave a giggle and picked up her Mahu from the desk.

"Now you be a good boy and keep out of trouble today and Lavender will buy you a Star Atomiser when she gets out of school ok."

The mag bobbed quickly and gave Lavender one last nuzzle before making its way over to the bed and setting itself down in the folds of the covers. Lavender gave a last giggle and blew the mag a kiss as she grabbed her pack and left the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lavender only just made it to the transport, the driver giving her a slightly disgruntled look as she boarded. Lavender just smiled and gave the driver a good morning as she boarded. As she boarded a voice called out to her.

"Hey Lav! Over here!"

Lavender looked up, spotting a waving arm a little bit further down the transport. She headed down the aisle towards it, dodging various people's feet that tried to trip her and various hands that tried to steal her hat. Finally she made it and sat down next to the waving person.

"Hey there Millie." said Lavender cheerfully.

"Hey Lavender." replied the girl next to her.

Millie was the same age as Lavender but unlike her she was just your regular kid rather than a mage in training. Lavender would have been just like her had she been adopted by anyone other than Links. Millie had long blonde hair that stretched down to the mid point of her back and was never tied up in anyway. Her eyes were a light brown colour which, at least in Lavender's view, seemed to shine. The clothes she wore were definitely a sharp contrast to what Lavender was wearing, consisting of a pair of rugged, partially ripped blue jeans and a black T-shirt with a slogan on the front saying "Yuck! Boys!". It always made Lavender giggle when she saw it and today was no exception.

"So what you been up to?" asked Millie quickly.

"Not too much, Links had me doing homework last night." replied Lavender.

"Yuck! Homework, Links is a big fuddy duddy!"

This caused Lavender to laugh and nod slightly, she knew Links was a bit of a fuddy duddy but she wouldn't wish for anyone else to take care of her.

"You ready for show and tell today?" continued Millie.

Lavender just gave a big smile and nodded quickly.

"What have you got?"

"I'm not telling, it's a secret." smiled Lavender.

"Ooooooh! Come on, what have you got?"

"Nope, wait and see."

"You big spoil sport."

The idle chatter continued as the transport made its way along, picking up a few more student as it went, until it finally reached the school building. Like most of the buildings on Pioneer 2 the school was a tall building that stretched up to meet the dome covering the city. Due to the number of people on Pioneer 2 ground space was at a premium but the school building, although tall, was set in it's own small grounds due to the fact that children needed somewhere to run about between lessons.

The bus had arrived with just enough time for the students aboard to get to their lessons if they didn't dawdle, which normally for Lavender would be a hard task. Today though, Lavender was quick off the mark and headed straight for her class with Millie in tow. Lavender's classroom was on the seventeenth floor of the building but a number of elevators served the different floors along with a staircase. Lavender barely managed to squeeze into the elevator with Millie before it started on its trip up the building.

Upon arrival Lavender headed left and then hung a right, walking through the automatic door that led to her classroom. Most of the time she was eager to get out of class but today she couldn't wait for it to start. The room was fairly light, even though there were no windows in the room. The front wall was covered in a large hovering display that, for the moment, was blank but would soon be lit up with various pictures and such to assist the teacher in her lesson. The right hand wall, the one that housed the door, was covered in various art projects and such that the children had done, whereas the left hand wall held a long electronic notice board that was covered in various notes and reminders. The back wall was fairly plain, housing only a long strip light and a few stacks of boxes.

Most of the class had already assembled and were either sitting waiting or standing around talking. Lavender made her way over to her desk and sat down placing her hand down on a small pad on the desk and waiting for a moment. The pad flashed and a screen folded out in front of her reading "Signed in", it was of course an electronic register to save the teacher a job in class. Presently Millie arrived and sat down in her seat next to Lavender before performing a similar action.

"Why are you so eager to get to class?" asked Millie looking over at Lavender, "You're never this eager."

"Yeah well today is gonna be special." smiled Lavender in response, "Just wait and see."

Millie was still puzzled by Lavender's eagerness but didn't have any time to ask further questions as another voice broke the air.

"Ok everyone settle down now." said a feminine voice.

Lavender looked up to see a middle aged woman walking in through the door. She wore a pair of white cotton trousers with a light blue blouse under a small black jacket. A set of rather large round glasses sat on her nose and her light brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. It was Lavender's teacher Sabrina, although Lavender had seen her a few times down at the Hunter's Guild, for which Sabrina worked part time.

"Take your seats please everyone." said Sabrina as she stopped in front of a large desk at the front of the class.

Slowly the students took their seats and after a moment Sabrina spoke again.

"Ok then class, I hope you all remembered your items for show and tell today." she said.

"Yes Miss." came a collective response.

"Good good, in that case we'll start now and if we finish before break you can all have a little bit of extra time outside."

Smiles beamed from around the class as Sabrina said this, everyone making a point to be as quick as possible in their presentation.

"Ok then, let's start with Joey then." continued Sabrina as the child in question got up to deliver his piece.

Over the course of the next forty minutes various members of the class got up to talk about their item. As they were on a giant spaceship the items were pretty much all the same but Lavender knew her item would be a surprise. She sat in boredom for most of the time, waiting for her turn to come and hoping to be the next one picked.

"Ok Lavender, you're next." said Sabrina looking down at a list she was holding.

Lavender gave a large smile and ducked her head under the table for a moment. She pushed her hand into her bag and then drew it out, slipping something up her sleeve as she did. After this she got up and headed to the front of the class, receiving some puzzled looks as it appeared that she was not carrying anything. Sabrina gave her a frown.

"Lavender did you forget your item?" she asked tapping a finger on the desk she was leaning against.

Lavender just shook her head and gave her a big smile before slipping a hand up her sleeve and pulling out the item she had recovered earlier. She did a small spin and then fanned out the items in front of her like you would a deck of cards, in fact the item was a small deck of cards, semi circular red cards with an eye on the front. Sabrina and the rest of the class gave a small gasp at the sight.

"Lavender, are those what I think they are?" asked Sabrina quickly.

"These are my cardies." replied Lavender with a smile.

"Lavender, those are not just cards, they are Mahu…a hunter weapon!"

"A hunter weapon?!" came a collective call from around the class.

Lavender just gave an affirmative nod.

"Yeah but I just call them my cardies, my unky Links gave me them for when we go down to Ragol together. We're going there today after school actually, I can't wait. He's going to show me some more cool stuff and maybe he'll teach me how to do another spell or something and…"

"Lavender stop."

Lavender stopped in mid sentence and looked up at Sabrina. Her teacher was sitting perfectly still on her desk, her fingers no longer tapping as they had been before. Lavender slowly met her gaze, one that was stern and held a hint of annoyance, anger and a bit of panic. The gaze made Lavender freeze to the spot, she'd seen that type of look on Links' face before, normally just before he yelled at her. In this case Sabrina didn't yell but she did speak.

"Lavender! You know the school rules, no hunter items are allowed inside the building!" she said firmly.

"But…" started Lavender.

"No buts Lavender, you don't see myself bringing side arms into class do you. The whole of Pioneer 2 might be enthralled with the idea of the hunters and the task they are doing but in this classroom that stuff is left firmly outside the door. Now take a seat and I don't want to see those things in class again."

Lavender stood for a moment unmoved, finally looking down at her feet.

"Yes miss…" she said slowly.

Sabrina and the rest of the class watched as Lavender returned to her seat and for a moment the entire room was silent. Finally a loud bell interrupted the noiseless din and snapped Sabrina back into reality.

"Ok class time for break period. I want you all back in here as soon as the return bell goes, we still have a few presentations to get through before lunchtime."

The class suddenly burst into life, each child grabbing a few things before leaving the class in a huge rush. All that was except for Lavender, she sat still in her seat staring at her desk, her cards tucked up her right sleeve. It wasn't until everyone had left that she slowly left the room and headed down the corridor towards the girl's bathroom. Not many people passed by during break but all of them were sure they could hear someone crying inside.

It was later in the day, during lunch break to be precise, that Lavender sat outside the school building on her own. The lesson between break and lunch had felt three times longer than it was and yet Lavender couldn't remember any of it. She had been looking forward to this for so long and now she just felt utterly crushed. She didn't know what to think or do and wished she could just crawl into a hole and be left alone.

She held her Mahu cards in her hand, the eye on the card crying itself, at least in Lavender's mind it was. There was little in her life she took seriously but her training as a hunter was definitely one of them. She loved being on Ragol, even if it was dangerous. She loved it when Links smiled at her because of her progress. She was happy when he was proud of her and sad if she messed up. It was her dream to become the strongest hunter onboard Pioneer 2, her dream to find out what was happening on the planet below her, her dream to make Links proud of her. Why couldn't anyone else understand that?

Presently a shadow washed over her and with a quick flick he slipped the cards up her sleeve again. She looked up to see three boys standing over her, one she recognised as Martin from her class. Martin was a bit of an idiot and everyone hated him, he had a way of getting very annoyed and back stabbing people. Lavender looked at the other two boys for a moment, she didn't recognise them, but they appeared to be older than she was.

"Hey Lavender." said Martin cheerfully.

"Hi." replied Lavender slowly.

"Can we see them?"

"Hmm?"

"Those cards, the Mahu? Can we see them?"

"You want to see my cardies?"

"Yeah, they look really cool! Miss is such an old fuddy duddy!"

"Yeah!" agreed one of the boys next to Martin, "I've never seen a hunter weapon before, can we have a look?"

Lavender looked at the trio slightly unsure on what to do."

"What if we get caught?" she asked slowly.

"No worries," said the third boy, "I know a place where you can show us in secret."

"Well….I guess so." replied lavender getting to her feet slowly, "Where?"

"Follow me."

The boy set off, closely followed by Martin and the other boy. Lavender took hold of her dress and lifted it slightly off the floor so she could jog without tripping over it. The boy lead them round the back of the school building and then down a narrow path between the back of the kitchen and waste disposal area. Finally the boy stopped and turned around.

"Ok this should do, we won't be interrupted here." he said, "Can we see them now?"

Lavender looked at the trio for a moment, still a little unsure and then finally slipped the cards from her sleeve and held them up. Almost immediately Martin made a snatch for them and caught Lavender completely by surprise. Before she knew it her cards were in Martin's possession and from there they passed onto one of the other boys.

"Wow, these are so cool! I think I'll keep em." he said.

"Huh?!" said Lavender quickly, her expression one of shock.

"Nah, I had first dibs remember." said the other boy snatching the cards for himself.

"Hey I wanna see em!" cried Martin grabbing the boy's wrist.

"Give me my cardies back!" cried Lavender, rushing at the boys.

Martin heard her cry and let go of the boy's wrist, stepping to one side and tripping Lavender as she ran forwards. Lavender fell flat on her face, her hat falling from her head and landing in a puddle of dirty water. The three boys just laughed as Lavender began to pick herself up and turn towards them. Their laughter got louder as they saw the wavering expression on Lavender's face.

"Give me my cardies back!" she cried again, a few tears forming in her eyes as she ran at them again.

This time Martin stepped to the side and pushed her into the second boy, who in turn pushed her into the third. Lavender couldn't do anything as she was flung between them and them promptly found herself falling to the ground again as one of the boys tripped her once more.

"Awww she fell down again." taunted Martin with a laugh.

The third boy started to fan himself with Lavender's cards like they were a fan as Lavender picked herself up again. The sight almost made her burst into tears as she screamed once more and ran towards him. She soon found herself unable to move as Martin and the other boy grabbed her from both sides. The last boy put the cards into his pocket and then opened the door to one of the waste disposal bins, the bin being basically a large hole in the ground into which the kitchen waste was thrown before transport to the recycling plant. Martin and the boy holding Lavender picked her up and carried her over to the open door before throwing her forwards into it.

Lavender couldn't do anything to stop her fall and she landed face first in the pile of rubbish consisting of potato peels, left over lasagne and lumpy custard amongst other things. Above her she could hear some movement and slowly lifted her head to look up. Martin and the two boys were jeering down at her and pulling faces.

"Come on lets go." said Martin turning round and walking out of sigh.

The two boys with him gave a nod to each other and a final laugh at Lavender before heading off themselves. It was now time for Lavender's wavering expression to break and the tears finally arrived. She let herself drop back down into the rubbish and lay still for a moment sobbing slowly to herself as the smell of the bin filled her nose. Finally after a minute she managed to pick herself up and wade across to the ladder that led up the few feet to the top of the bin. She climbed it slowly and then collapsed to her knees as she got to the top.

How could they do this? Didn't they know how special her cardies were to her? Maybe that's why they took them? She looked up slowly, spotting her hat, which now lay trampled in a puddle, stained and wet. She got up and crossed to it, clutching the hat in her hand and holding it to her breast as she burst into sobs again. In the distance she caught the sound of a bell, the bell that signified the start of afternoon lessons but Lavender didn't move. Instead she chose to stand crying in the deserted back street clutching her hat.

When Lavender finally decided to move it was well into the afternoon period but she didn't care. The thought of going back to class hadn't entered her mind and instead she headed once again towards the girl's bathroom. Once there she crossed to a sink and looked at herself. She hadn't bothered to clean herself up after being pushed into the bin and bits of food still stuck to her in various places. She slowly brushed a bit of potato peel out of her hair and then got some toilet paper to wipe a custard stain on her front. After a short while she was looking a little better but it was obvious to tell that she had taken a bad fall. Finally she put her hat in the sink and ran a little hot water onto it before trying to wash the mud off it.

Afternoon break was fast approaching as Lavender finally sat down on a toilet seat in the bathroom. The stains on her clothing were now little more than discoloured spots but they were still fairly obvious. Her hat was still soaking in the sink but right now her thoughts were elsewhere. She had lost her cardies, a present from Links that she cherished with all her heart. What was she going to say to him when she got home tonight? Would he understand what had happened? She hadn't told him that she was taking them after all. Would he be angry? Would he yell at her?

She pressed her eyes together. She didn't like it when Links yelled at her, she didn't like to upset him after all he'd done for her in the past, all that he was doing now. Somehow she had to get them back! But how? She wasn't strong enough to force them into giving them back! Or was she? She slowly looked at her hands and then looked away. No she couldn't, not against people! But then they aren't really people said a small voice in her head. Was the voice right? Yes…yes it was! She looked at her hands again and clenched her fists. She'd make them pay for what they did to her!

She leaped from her seat and crossed to the sink, pulling her hat out and giving it a good shake. She finally stuck it on her head, small trickles of water running down the side of her head from the wet hat above her. She adjusted the hat slightly and then marched purposefully from the bathroom, heading down towards the exit.

She arrived outside the building just as the break bell rang and quickly found herself a bench to sit in opposite the main entrance. There she waited for Martin to appear and after a little while he did. The crowds of children seemed to wash away into nothingness as Martin's face appeared out of the doorway accompanied with the two boys that had been with him earlier. Lavender wasted no time and sprung from her seat, walking purposefully towards the group, barging a few people out of the way as she went. One of the boys spotted her as she approached and announced her presence for her.

"Hey look, she's back!" he said pointing at Lavender as she walked up.

Martin and the other boy didn't say anything as Lavender stopped a few meters away and glared at them.

"Give me my cardies back!" she screamed, her voice so loud that the entire schoolyard heard and turned round.

"Your what? What you talking about Lavender?" asked Martin casually throwing a grin at his two companions.

"I'm warning you! Give them back!"

"Or what? Maybe we should throw you in the bins again."

"Give them BACK!"

As Lavender's scream pitched her palms lit up with a red glow and, before he knew what was happening, Martin found himself lying on the ground groaning in pain. His clothing was smoking lightly as if he'd been standing too near to a fire and a few patches had been burned away. His two companions looked at each other for a moment and then ran at Lavender only to meet a similar fate to Martin. Lavender glared down at the three boys, everyone around her deadly silent, before she collapsed next to Martin and started to pound her fist into him.

"Give them back! Give them back! GIVE THEM BACK!" she cried over and over, each of her cries accompanied by as harder punch.

"Lavender stop it!" came a shout over her cries.

Lavender stopped in mid punch, she recognised the voice all too well. Slowly she looked round to see Sabrina standing behind her, a look of astonishment and disbelief on her face. Lavender's eyes went wide at the sight and she looked back at Martin below her. Fear gripped her a second later as she started looking frantically from Sabrina and back to Martin over and over. The full extent of what she'd done suddenly clicked and she did the only thing she could think of, she ran. Pushing through the crowds of children around the scene she ran as fast as she could and didn't look back.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Lavender once again found herself in the girl's bathroom. She was sat on a toilet curled into a ball crying into her knees. She couldn't believe what she had done, it wasn't like her at all. Why had she done it? She had never wanted to hurt anyone, all she had wanted was to get her cards back. She continued to sob, stopping suddenly as she heard the door give a click.

"Lavender?" called a soft voice.

Lavender didn't respond but she couldn't help but sob a little. This was obviously enough for the owner of the voice to pin point her as she heard the door click again and then footsteps slowly crossing the room.

"Lavender?" said the voice again.

This time it was closer, right outside the cubical door for that matter and the door wasn't closed. Lavender slowly looked up to see Sabrina leaning on the doorframe looking at her with a soft gaze. Lavender's head returned to her knees and she started to cry again as Sabrina's arm fell across her shoulders. The young girl couldn't stop herself and turned to her side, wrapping her arms around Sabrina and sobbing into her chest. Sabrina responded by wrapping her own arms around Lavender and giving her a small squeeze.

"Lavender, why did you do that?" asked Sabrina slowly.

Lavender just sniffed for a moment, her face still buried in Sabrina's chest as she replied.

"I…I just wanted my cardies back." she replied.

"What happened?" asked Sabrina.

"They wanted to see my cardies so they took me somewhere were we wouldn't be disturbed….then they stole my cardies and pushed my in the rubbish bin."

Sabrina just gave a small nod to herself.

"Lavender do you realise what you did?" she asked.

"Yes….I didn't mean to hurt them, I didn't want to hurt them…I…"

"Lavender this is very serious, you used a spell technique inside the school! The entire faculty is in an uproar."

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt them! I didn't mean to use that Foie spell. I just wanted my cardies back."

"They're special to you aren't they?"

"Uh huh, Unky Links gave them to me when we first went to Ragol. He said they would protect me from all the bad monsters. He…"

"Hush dear, I know what you mean."

"You do?"

"I felt the same way when my parents gave me my first weapon."

"You did?"

Sabrina just gave a nod and reached into her pocket, drawing out a small deck of cards. She held then up for Lavender to see and the small child froze.

"My cardies!" she cried, wrapping her hands around the cards for a moment and then wrapping her arms round Sabrina again, "Thank you!"

"It's ok Lavender." replied Sabrina slowly, "Now what say I take you home? Sitting here isn't going to make you feel any better."

Lavender just gave a nod, allowing the older human to take hold of her and help her to her feet. Sabrina kept hold of Lavender's right hand and slowly guided her out of the bathroom. The corridors were deserted, the rest of the school still in lessons, as they walked down them towards the exit. As they left the building Sabrina turned them both towards the staff car park where her own flyer was waiting. It wasn't big, barely big enough for two people but as Sabrina was the only one to ever use it it didn't matter and Lavender wasn't in a mood to notice.

Sabrina helped her inside and made sure she was strapped in before climbing in herself and starting the engine. A light hum filled the air as the photon engine started up and lifted the vehicle from the ground. Slowly Sabrina began the accent from the ground, and making sure she didn't hit anyone else, made her way into the lines of traffic that were filing along above them. Little was said during the journey, a grumble from Sabrina about the traffic, a mumble from Lavender. Lavender herself wasn't paying anything any attention and hardly noticed the trip, her senses only really returning when Sabrina tapped her on the shoulder.

"We're there." she said softly.

Lavender looked up at Sabrina and then around at her surroundings. The flyer was sat on the ground next to a large block of apartments, the one where Links and her had their home. For a moment she didn't want to go, she didn't know what she was going to say to Links, she didn't know how she was going to explain what happened. She gave a small sigh and slowly got out of the flyer, standing still facing the lobby entrance until Sabrina pushed her inside.

The trip up the elevator seemed to take forever and all the while Lavender was getting more and more worried and fidgety. As a ping that signalled their arrival at the correct floor sounded Lavender started to cry again. Sabrina placed a guiding arm around her and coaxed her out of the lift and down the hall. Sabrina had been to Links' apartment before, she had even worked with him on one quest for the Hunter's Guild, so she knew where she was going. Eventually the pair stopped in front of a door and Sabrina gave a small knock.

"Hmm? One second." came a reply a moment later.

There was a brief pause and then the door slid open, revealing Links standing in the doorway. He blinked quickly, looking a little puzzled at the pair on the doorstep.

"Lavender? What are you doing back from school so early? Sabrina?" asked Links giving Sabrina a questioning look.

"There's been some trouble at school Links, can we come in?" replied Sabrina.

"Oh, of course."

Links took a step to the side and watched as Sabrina and Lavender walked past. Sabrina gave Links a small nod as she passed and then quickly sat Lavender down in a chair before sitting down next to her. Links closed the door and crossed over to where they were sitting, placing himself opposite the pair. For a moment nothing was said and Lavender found herself staring at her knees.

"So what's going on?" asked Links finally.

"There's been some trouble involving Lavender at school today." replied Sabrina.

Lavender looked up slowly to find Links looking at her and quickly looked down again but this was enough for Links to jump to a conclusion.

"You been in trouble Lavender? You know I won't stand for that type of stuff! What did she do Sabrina?" he said in a rather gruff tone.

It took all of a split second for Lavender to burst into tears and jump to her feet. Ignoring the slightly shocked looks from Sabrina and Links she ran towards her room, the door opening automatically as she approached and shutting behind her. The small girl flung herself at the bed, her arms flying out to grab the covers and pull them close to her, as she started to cry into her pillow.

To her it felt like her whole world had come crashing down on her and she didn't have a clue what to do about it. As she continued to sob there was a small rustle from the far corner of the room followed by the small white form of Sato rising up from as pile of clothing. The mag had been resting in the pile when Lavender had stormed in and was curious as to what was going on.

The mag continued to rise, doing a small flip and flying towards the bed when it saw Lavender, however it soon stopped dead. Hovering in mid air, the mag watched Lavender cry for a moment before slowly approaching and floating down next to her face. The mag slowly tapped its nose against Lavender's tear stained cheek to announce its presence. Lavender slowly looked up and gave a sniff, looking back down and burying her face in her pillow again as she saw the mag.

Sato wasn't impressed and gave her another nudge, this time following it up by snuggling into her shoulder.

"Sato…" whimpered Lavender quietly.

The mag replied by wagging its tail energetically and snuggling into her shoulder more. Slowly Lavender brought a hand away from the covers and started to pat the mag on the head. Sato responded by nuzzling back against her hand and then letting out a small chirp as Lavender spun and brought it into a tight hug. Lavender broke into more tears as she hugged the mag and brought it close to her face to rub her cheek against. Sato slowly began to get used to the mauling and decided to accept it, allowing Lavender to hug it without resistance.

Finally, after a few more moment, Lavender looked up and met the mag's gaze. A small smile started to spread across her face before it quickly faded and her eyes went wide.

"Sato…" she said slowly, releasing the mag in the process.

Sato shook slightly and then rose from Lavender's arm and started to hover in front of her. The mag gave a small bounce, remembering something that had been said earlier. Lavender had also remembered which was the reason for her expression.

"I…I'm sorry Sato…I wasn't able to get you a Star Atomiser today." she said slowly, looking down from the mag.

Lavender was ashamed of herself, not only had she got into trouble but she had also let down a friend, and a good friend at that. She flopped back into her pillow, tears returning to her eyes as she began to cry once more.

"I'm sorry Sato, I've been a lousy hunter to you, you deserve someone better than me." she said softly, her words half muffled by the pillow.

Sato continued to hover for a moment and then slowly slid over to Lavender and nuzzled into her shoulder again. Lavender looked up slowly to see the mag settling into place next to her on the covers. Her expression changed to one of slight surprise as she looked at the critter beside her.

"You…you don't mind that I didn't get you one?" she asked.

Sato just wagged its tail and remained where it was, a smile passing over its face, at least in Lavender's eyes. Lavender slowly wiped her tears and started to run her hand over Sato's head causing Sato's tail to wag in approvement.

"Thank you Sato."

Just then there was a small knock at the door, which caused Lavender to look up.

"Lavender? Can I come in?" asked Links' voice slowly.

Lavender turned her head a little more to look at the door and then slumped back into her pillow without saying a word.

"Lavender?" came the call again.

Again Lavender didn't reply and choose to just lay still, her hand still resting on Sato's head. Just then she heard a small bleep and a whooshing sound as the door slid open behind her. There wasn't a sound for a moment, the floor being carpeted and absorbing the sound of Links' footsteps, and then a slight creek as Links' sat down on the edge of the bed. Lavender felt the bed shift as Links sat down but didn't move from her position. She didn't even move when Links reached out to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Lavender, Sabrina just told me what happened at school. I'm sorry I snapped as I did, I expected the worst." said Links slowly, sounding a little guilty.

Lavender just made a small murmuring sob and hugged Sato closer to her.

"I'm not mad with you Lavender, a little upset but not mad." continued Links.

"R…really?" squeaked Lavender as she gingerly looked round behind her.

Links just gave a nod and took a light hold of Lavender's arms, turning her around to face him.

"I'm a little disappointed that you took your cards to school with you. You should know better than that Lavender after all I've been trying to teach you."

Lavender shuffled slightly in her seat, she knew Links was right. She looked up slowly and caught Links' expression, he wasn't mad as he had said but he sure wasn't happy.

"And Lavender," he said sternly, "if you ever use your techniques anywhere else other than Ragol again there will be stiff consequences."

Lavender gave a small gulp and nodded slowly, she knew he was serious from the look in his eyes. As Lavender watched though the hard look in Links' eyes slowly faded and he brought the young girl forwards into a tight hug. Lavender was a little surprised at this and didn't know what to do for a moment before instincts kicked in and caused her to hug back tightly. Lavender couldn't help herself and broke into tears in Links' arms, Sato nuzzling into her side to try and comfort her.

"I'm just glad you're safe Lavender." said Links with a heavy sigh, "You could have been hurt doing what you did."

"I…I thought you'd be mad if I came home without my cardies so I…"

"There are other ways of dealing with problems without resorting to violence." cut in Links, "You could have told Sabrina and she would have sorted it for you."

"I…I wanted to do it myself. I didn't want to disappoint you."

"Lavender you've never disappointed me, you're the most skilled hunter trainee I've seen for quite some time."

"Really?"

"Yes really, Lavender, I just want you to be happy."

"I am Links."

The pair remained as they were for a moment, unaware that Sabrina was watching silently from the doorway. She smiled slightly and then turned away from the doorway and disappeared from view. It was about this time that Links broke the hug and pulled back, his hands folding Lavender's upper arms firmly.

"Well you should start getting ready." he said slowly.

"Ready? For what?" asked Lavender a little confused.

"Our trip to Ragol of course."

Lavender's eyes went wide, how could she have forgotten that?!

"You mean you're still going to take me after…"

"Yes I am. You are obviously sorry and upset about what you did so further punishment is not needed. Besides it's hard enough to organise these trips so I'm not going to cancel it after all the work I've had to do to get it."

Lavender quickly broke free of Links' grip and wrapped her arms around him in another hug. Links just patted her on the back with a smile.

"Thank you!" said Lavender, her voice shaking slightly as she spoke.

It was about an hour later that Links and Lavender stood side by side outside the Hunter's Guild. After Links had prised Lavender off himself earlier the two had gotten ready for their trip fairly quickly. They were both already dressed for the occasion, neither of them wearing anything other than their hunter clothing nearly one hundred percent of the time. Links was shouldering a small backpack which contained his weapon of choice, a small magical cane called a Summit Moon. The cane was not even a meter long and had a large glowing stone embedded at the end of it between a small set of rounded points. Links had found the stone purely by chance during a mission to Ragol and after it had been analysed he had had it embedded into a cane to harness it's magical properties.

The backpack also contained a pair of vulcan machine guns, a number of healing items and Lavender's Mahu cards. Links and Lavender's mags were hovering over their respective owner's shoulders calmly although Sato was a little more active. It was swaying slightly from side to side, occasionally bobbing up and down instead to reveal the monotony. Links' mag, on the other hand, was completely still and silent. The mag was a Soniti, an odd mag that looked like the head of a rabbit. It had a fairly roundish shaped white body with two green slits on either side that looked like eyes and two large "ears" sticking up from it that had blue tips.

Before arriving at the Hunter's Guild, the pair had made a stop at the local shops. Links had some business with the weapons merchant and Lavender had used the time to buy Sato a Star Atomiser, which the mag had devoured eagerly. The lady behind the counter had ended up talking to Lavender the whole time Links had been busy which had resulted in a small cue forming behind the chatting pair but the woman seemed not to mind.

Now stood outside the Guild the pair walked towards the doors and stepped inside. Almost immediately they were nearly sent flying as a male hunter, a HUmar, raced past them with an unevolved bright yellow coloured mag following him as best it could. Links shook his head and muttered something about inexperienced fools before continuing on inside.

The Guild was alive with action, a number of hunters of various types standing around or doing things. Leaning against the wall nearest them was a female android, a RAcaseal ranger, who's slim figure would have made most human women extremely jealous is she had been human. Near the window at the back of the room a short FOnewearl force and a HUcast were chatting idly. It was quite a comical site as the android hunter was at least twice the size of the force. Finally a RAmar, a male human ranger, stood at the Guild counter playing seven bells of hell at the lady behind the desk.

"You told me this mission would pay well!" he cried loudly, his hands planted firmly on the counter.

"Like I've already told you sir," replied the lady trying to remain calm and collected, "if you had followed the report like it had said without going off on your own it would. It's your own fault you messed up not ours, if you have a problem with that I suggest you go and talk to the client personally."

The RAmar raised a hand from the desk and clenched his hand as he tried to hold back a scream and then stormed from the room, Links and Lavender having to jump out of the way to avoid being bowled over. Links shook his head and approached the desk just as the woman was collapsing into a chair.

"Busy day?" he said with a chuckle.

"Links! Oh you're telling me!" replied the woman looking up slowly.

"Well you've always coped in the past eh Samantha."

Samantha was one of the many people who helped to keep the Hunter's Guild running smoothly. Like everyone else who worked for the Guild she wore a specific blue uniform consisting of a blouse, skirt and hat and then a few personal touches like a small red flower that was sticking out of her blouse pocket.

"So what can I do for you today Links?" she asked sitting up in her chair and straightening out her uniform.

"Myself and my niece here have a date with the planet Ragol." replied Links pushing Lavender into view.

The small FOmarl gave a shy wave, which caused Samantha to laugh slightly.

"Back again eh, just you stay out of trouble ok. One minute Links, I have to make sure it's all been cleared."

Links just gave a small nod and let Samantha do her work as she skimmed the computer screen in front of her. A moment later she raised her head and gave a nod.

"Seems everything is in order, you've been authorised for a trip to the forest area near the Central Dome although you've been asked to stay in the fringe areas of the forest. It seems there is some business going on near the Central Dome and all non involved people have been ordered to stay away."

"Is it about that Dragon?" asked Links with a questioning look.

"It doesn't say but it's most likely. That was quite a find Links and the central government wanted to investigate it further, this cordon probably has something to do with it."

"Hmm, very well, in that we'll take our leave."

"Don't have too much fun."

Samantha gave a smile and a wave as Links turned away ushering Lavender with him. As they approached the door the HUmar from earlier shot back into the Guild, his mag now nowhere to be seen, and nearly knocked the pair over again. Links pulled a face that showed his irritism and Lavender was glad they were inside or she was sure he'd have let off some sort of spell.

Finally Links looked away and took hold of Lavender's shoulder, guiding her to the right as they left the Guild. In front of them sat a large set of metal doors that must have been a good ten meters tall, in front of which stood two city guards. Links approached one of them and handed him a slip of paper, which the guard read and then nodded. There was a clang and the huge metal shutters slowly slid upwards revealing the blue flashing form of the planetary teleporter behind them.


End file.
